This invention relates to a toilet flushing apparatus and is particularly concerned with such apparatus in combination with a cistern and having a dual flush capability.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a toilet flushing apparatus which is economical in its water usage and which may selectively provide either a short flush or a long flush.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a toilet that can be activated with minimal effort and when the cistern is not yet full.
The present invention is, in combination, a cistern and flushing apparatus, the cistern having an outlet, and the apparatus comprising a valve for closing the outlet, the valve having a seat and a sealing member movable onto and off the seat, an actuating float constrained to move substantially vertically in the cistern and connected with the sealing member so that the buoyancy of the float acts to press the sealing member onto the seat, means for holding the float against its buoyancy and an actuation mechanism for releasing the float thereby to open the valve.
The apparatus may also include a pre-overflowing warning device which indicates to a user if the cistern over-fills even though no overflowing occurs.
Embodiments of the apparatus may provide a system which, when activated even though the cistern is empty, will automatically discharge when the cistern fills to a preset level thus avoiding small quantities of water being discharged when repeated attempts are made to actuate the mechanism before the cistern is fully filled.
The present invention is also flushing apparatus which when fitted to a cistern provides the combination defined in any of the last three preceding paragraphs.